The Sunday morning news. [volume] (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1886-1891, 1887-06-05
PULL DOWN YOUR SHADES.
AND THEN THE POLICE CAN'T SEE
KOU VIOLATE THE SUNDAY Law.

Thimble Rigging Between .sJins" Davis's
Prohibition Board and the Liquor
Dealers; That is Designed to Hood
wink the Dear innocent People.
Joey Bagstock may have been sly-dey-
lish sly; but when slim" Davis's Prohibi-
ton Police Board and the liquor dealers
put their heads together, they can be
slyer, devilish sight slyer than he. Wall,
they seem to have got their heads together,
and the result is that they have concocted
scheme by which slim" Davis shuts all
the saloons up, and the saloon keepers
keep all the saloons open, at the same
time. This is the story of how it is to be
worked in town to-day.
There has been some temperance agita-
ton in this city of late-that everybody
} knows. The highly respectable church re-
formers insist that the saloons shall not
display their ugly interiors to the church
goers on Sunday morning and Sunday noon
and Sunday evening; that there shall be an
enforcement of the Sunday liquor law that
will help to give the city q sober and quiet
and clearly appearance on the Sabbath, if
it be possible no other day of the week.
No one knows just how, but somehow the
members of the Liquor Dealers ASSOCIATION
became cognizant that this demand was to
receive favorable response from the Po-
lice Board They may have guessed it
from the fact that ''Jim' Davis, the Presi-
dent of the Police Board is a member of the
Third Street Methodist Church, and a pro-
nounced Prohibitionist, and that his church
conn ctions andProhibition learnings would
exact on his part some kind of an
acquiescence to demand for
more orderly Sabbath in the city
Well, at any rate, the liquor dealers be-
came convinced that the Prohibition Pc
lice Board would ''do something besides
''ask it for the church reformers, and
they got together to prepare to meet the
emergency. The first thing that they did
was to resolve to obey the law, and to
threaten that any of their members who
were unfortur ate enough to allow them
selves to be caught breaking it, need not
look to them for countenance or support
or protection. They were especially ener-
getic in urging that the doors be closed
and the curtains drawn so that-well that
will appear hereafter.
Meanwhile the church peoples petition
to the Police Board had been sent for ac-
ton to,a committee consisting of Commits
sioners NugeHt, Roberts and Fenner. They
got together to compare notes remarka
Bile unanimity of conclusions was re-
vealed. They would instruct the po-
lice to enforce the law, as to
Sunday liquor selling as strictly as
possible. The police should at all times
prevent the sale of liquors to minors. And
as for Sunday music in the beer gardens,
that should be allowed no longer. They
subsequently, learned that some of the con-
cert saloon keepers had already hired their
bands at large expense, and the order as to
Sunday music was modified later in the
evening SO as to permit it to be played to-
day-but never thereafter on Sunday.
The conclusions of the Police Committee
were formulated in instructions sent out to
the Captains in the several precincts by
Chief of Police Murphy last evening; and
in pursuance of these instructions each
Captain directed his men to arrest to-day
every liquor dealer he saw violating the
law. If he does not see the violation, why
he cannot prove that there was violation,
and arrests on mere suspicious that could
not be proven would be as foolish as they
would be improper.
''But the liquor dealers are all directed
to keep their doors closed and their cur-
tains drawn. remarked the inquiring
SUNDAY News reporter.
'.Yes," was Chief Mnrphy's answer.
eWeil, if the shades are drawn and the
doors closed, how are the officers to see the
sale of liquor?"
s'Ihats it." returned the Chief, with
sly wink, intimating that the
reporters question showed pretty
clean grasp of the situation. ST
guess about the only effect the new or
der will have will be to increase the sale
of shades Tor windows tonight"
So that the action of the Police Board
ordering the arrest IF all saloon keepers
who are ''seen" selling liquor on Sunday,
experimenting the acuon of the Liquor
Dealers Association directing shades to be
drawn down and doors closed, amounts
to merely hint that if they want to es-
cape arrest, tie hqaor dealers must
prevent the police from seeing
what is going on on the inside
"But then, Chief Murphy added,
'sclosed doors and Grawn shades will help
the town to present better Sunday APP
pearance than usual and to hat extent
the action Of the Police Committee is
beneficial
1t by any chance any oyer-zealous officer,
whose Suspicious are aroused by the pour
ing of, q stream of visitors into hallway
adjoining saloon, should succeed by
peeping in in seeing saloon keeper IN the
act Of selling liquor, that saloon keeper IS
to he arrested summary, and taken before
the Grand Jury. The Sunday music bust
ness is to be stopped after to-day by the
equally summary arrest of persons IN
whose saloons OF gardens the music is per-
mitted.
Drank with $25, 900.